HAMILTON COLLEGE 

LIBRARY. 

Class 

Book ..... 




Qass_,,- — 
Book—-— 



DEDICATORY SERVICES 



OF 



THE NEW EDIFICE 

OF THE fa £ l£§ J 

Third Presbyterian 

CHURCH, 

OF 

PITTSBURGH, PENN'A. 



WITH 



SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 



Jiistory of tf)e "C/jurcI; from its ^Organization, 



TOGETHER WITH A FULL 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT BUILDING. 



AND ITS APPOINTMENTS 



PITTSBUKGH : 

W. G. JOHNSTON & CO., PRINTERS. 
1869. 



m* 19,0 



Successive Pastors 

OF 

J^HIRD ^RESBYTERIAN jCliURCH, 



OF 

PITTSBURGH. 



Rev. DAVID H. RIDDLE, D. D. 
Called June 28th, 1833 ; Installed January 15th, 
1834 — Sermon by Rev. Matthew Brown, D. D.; 
Dismissed January 19th, 1857. 

Rev. HENRY KENDALL, D. D. 
Called September 30th, 1857; Installed January 
18th, 1858— Sermon by Rev. G. W. Heacock, D. 
D.; Dismissed October 15th, 1861. 

Rev. HERRICK JOHNSON, D. D. 
Called September 8th, 1862 ; Installed January 
10th, 1863— Sermon by Rev. M. L. R. P. Thomp- 
son, D. D.; Dismissed September 10th, 1867. 



Rev. FREDERICK A. NOBLE. 
Called November 12th, 1867 ; Installed Feb. 21st 
1869— Sermon by Rev. Wm. D. Howard, D. D. 



u ^trar)tl| and ||mutg are in ^anduarg/ 



|he |ld | ; lutrch Jjuilding. 



The foundations of the building, on the corner of 
Third and Ferry streets, in which the Third Presby- 
terian Congregation of Pittsburgh worshiped for 
more than one generation, were laid in April, 1833. 
The basement room was completed, and ready for 
occupancy, in December of the same year, and the 
house, with appropriate ceremonies, was dedicated 
to the service of God, in August, 1834, the venera- 
ble Francis Herron, D. D., then Pastor of the First 
Presbyterian Church, pronouncing a blessing on the 
completed work. The edifice then erected, was the 
largest and most convenient Protestant house of 
worship in the city. 

The building was sixty-seven feet front, on Third 
street, by ninety-seven feet deep, on Ferry street. 
The floor of the basement story, that covered cellars 
occupying the whole space under the building, was 
one step above the pavement, The side on Ferry 
street was scabblecl and drafted work, without any 



trimmings to the windows. The front, on Third 
street, was composed of three parts : the middle 
contained two columns and two pilasters, in the 
Grecian-Doric style, without base, and of very mas- 
sive proportions. The columns supported a broad 
frieze and cornice, which were continued along the 
whole front, and returned on the building to the dis- 
tance of twenty feet — in part serving to distinguish 
the vestibule from the body of the church. The two 
extremes were of solid masonry, in the style of 
" French Rustic." The entrances to the church, were 
three doors in the middle part, between and on 
either side of the stone columns. By the centre 
door, the vestibule proper was entered, which was 
in an elliptic form, containing two flights of winding 
stairs, that met at a platform, before the door that 
entered the middle aisle of the church. The stair- 
cases at each side of the church, to which there were 
separate entrances by the other two front doors, 
were circular, and continued to the galleries. This 
story contained a large lecture room, forty feet by 
sixty-three feet, and two school rooms, each thirty 
feet square. 

The second floor, on which was the main audience 
room, was elevated thirteen feet above the street. 
The wall was of brick, very heavy and substantial, 
and covered with Roman cement. The front of this 
story was divided into three parts, corresponding to 
the divisions of the basement. The middle con- 

8 



tained four columns of the Grecian-Ionic order, the 
entablature of which was continued around the 
whole building. Along the front, and on the sides, 
as far as to cover the base of the steeple, was an 
attic story, with a proportioned dentil cornice. 

The steeple was of wood, resting on heavy brick 
walls, built up as high as the roof. The pedestal 
was an octagonal figure, with a cornice, on which 
was erected the bell tower, also octagonal in form. 
The cell contained four large windows, filled with 
buffer boarding, and surrounded by eight Ionic col- 
umns, over which was the proper entablature. Above 
this was the pedestal of the second tower, erected 
on three steps, and on four sides were clock faces, 
and on the other four were windows. The second 
tower was circular, with eight columns, and an 
entablature from a high blocking cornice. From 
this cornice sprang a graceful, beautiful spire, termi- 
nated by the cardinal points and a vane, with a 
small half ball on the top of the iron rod. 

The ceiling of the church was decorated with 
panel moulding and stucco ornaments. The height 
from the floor of the vestibule, which was one foot 
three inches above the street, to the point of the 
pediment, was sixty feet, to the cornice of the attic 
was fifty-two feet, and from the same floor to the 
ball of the steeple, was one hundred and sixty-one 
feet six inches, making the whole height of the stee- 

(b) 9 



pie, from the earth at the corner of the streets, one 
hundred and sixty-three feet. 

The body of the church, which was sixty-two feet 
wide and seventy-two feet long, contained seats for 
eight hundred persons on the main floor, and four 
hundred on the gallery. The whole building was 
completed at the cost of $25,000. The lot on which 
it was reared cost about $10,000. 

Beyond the ordinary repairs necessary to a build- 
ing, nothing was done to the church until after the 
"Great Fire," which laid a large part of the city in 
ruins, on April 10, 1845. During the ensuing sum- 
mer, the heavy wooden cornice which had sur- 
rounded the edifice, was removed, the side galleries 
were taken down, and the windows on each side of 
the pulpit were filled in ; the main audience room 
was painted in fresco, and the exterior of the church 
and steeple were repainted. During the summer of 
1850, a new organ was placed in the gallery, at a 
cost of $1,300. 



10 



hutch 



On the 11th of April, 1859, the congregation, at 
the solicitation of Dr. Kendall, resolved to make 
important changes, and thorough repairs on the 
church edifice. The square, clear windows were 
replaced with stained glass windows, of beautiful 
designs. The old method of lighting the church by 
gas brackets from the side walls, was abandoned, and 
•a novel and beautiful cluster of gas jets placed in 
the centre of the ornamented ceiling, gave sufficient 
light in the most distant recess of the building. A 
part of the wall, immediately behind the rather high 
and confined pulpit, was removed, and an alcove of 
lofty and graceful proportions, built. This alcove 
was lighted by a window on each side. The plat- 
form was lowered and enlarged, and a simple read- 
ing desk was put in the place of the heavy pulpit. 
The whole edifice, from the ground to the ball on 
the spire, was repainted, within and without. In 
the lecture room, the plain pine benches, that had 
been used for so many years, were succeeded by 
comfortable stationary pews. 

11 



|toaii»ns of the f d <| 



Very important alterations were made to the en- 
trances. The heavy walls between the three door- 
ways were removed, the centre stairways taken 
clown, and the whole space, both on the first and 
second floors, thrown into spacious vestibules, the 
upper vestibule being approached by broad and easy 
stairways at each end. The old study for the pastor, 
which had been in the base of the steeple, was made 
the belfry, and a large, convenient, and well lighted 
study, handsomely furnished, was formed from the 
vestibule of the gallery. 

Dr. Kendall, who had so earnestly advocated these 
improvements, was equally active in aiding their 
final completion, and had the satisfaction of preach- 
ing to his people, in their beautiful temple, on 
Christmas Day of the same year. The pecuniary 
outlay for the improvements was almost $10,000. 

In May, 1860, the General Assembly of the New 
School Presbyterian Church, embracing many unusu- 
ally able representatives, held its sessions in this 
church, for the first time. At this meeting, the 
Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions, was ap- 
pointed, and the Assembly resolved to abandon the 
American Home Missionary Society, and resume the 
responsibility of conducting its own operations with- 
in its own bounds. 

Among the many pleasant memories connected 
with the old edifice, are those of the last revival of 
religion that visited the congregation while they 

12 



worshiped within its hallowed walls. During the 
year 1858, when under the pastoral care of Rev. 
Henry Kendall, D. D., forty persons were added to 
the church. This revival continued uninterruptedly 
for more than one year. One result of this work of 
God's Spirit, as well as an instrument of maintain- 
ing the interest in religion, was the daily morning 
prayer meetings, which, after being held for fourteen 
months, were discontinued by reason of the repairs 
to the building. 



13 



§Jit gaming of % |jlcl ^lutrrlt 



For many years the citizens of Pittsburgh had 
been indifferent to the ordinary alarms of fire, when 
sounded by the bells of the engine houses, for all 
were assured that in case of a serious fire, the far 
reaching and musical tones of the " Old Third Church 
Bell," would immediately call them to the place 
where their assistance was needed. On the morning 
of Wednesday, June the 1st, 1863, at half past ten 
o'clock, before the engine bells had given the pre- 
monitory alarm, the great bell rang out the most 
piteous peals that metal ever sent vibrating through 
the air. Often, before, had that bell called the fire- 
men to their duties, but never had it spoken in such 
tones of intense agony and despair, as when it be- 
came evident that its moments were numbered. 
Startled by the suddenness and rapidity of the ring- 
ing, vast crowds of nervous and excited people hast- 
ened to the place, and discovered that the upper 
story and roof of a large building adjoining the 
church were in flames. In spite of the unwearied 
efforts of the firemen, the roof caught fire several 



times, but was as often extinguished. Some faint 
hopes were entertained that the church might be 
saved from destruction, but the violence of the fire, 
and the great amount of highly combustible mate- 
rial in the burning building, sealed its fate. In a 
few moments the roof was enveloped in flames, that 
rapidly made their way to the base of the wooden 
steeple. For awhile they played about the pillars 
and timbers of the tower, and then, raging and roar- 
ing in sublime fury, ran swiftly up the graceful spire. 
The foundation timbers being destroyed, the whole 
steeple moved grandly from its base, and with a 
thundering crash, went clown into the bosom of the 
church, to which its musical voice had so long called 
God's worshipers. In less than two hours after the 
fire began, nothing was left of the " Old Third 
Church,' 7 but the four bare walls, filled with smoul- 
dering ruins. 

On the afternoon of the same clay, the Board of 
Trustees met, and appointed a Building Committee, 
a Committee to take charge of the books and furni- 
ture saved from the fire, and to procure a place for 
public worship, and a Committee to receive the 
money due from the Insurance Companies, which 
had issued policies on the church and organ. 

At a meeting of the congregation, held on the 
evening of the following day, invitations, to make 
use of their respective church buildings, for relig- 
ious services, until other permanent arrangements 

15 



could be made, were received from the First Presby- 
terian Church, Allegheny ; the First, Second and 
Central Presbyterian, the First Baptist, and Grace 
German Reformed Churches, of Pittsburgh. Voting 
a resolution of thanks for these kind and hearty 
offers, the congregation determined to rent Mozart 
Hall, on Seventh street. A Building Committee of 
three persons was appointed, to act in concert with 
the Committee of the Board of Trustees. The con- 
gregation resolved to continue the payment of pew 
rent, at the same rate, and upon the same terms as 
before. 

The amount of insurance on the church, was 
$20,000, and on the organ, $1,200. 



16 



aging the |jtonfi of % jjeiu |jutrch 



The ceremonies attending the laying of the corner 
stone of the new edifice, took place on the afternoon 
of June 1st, 1866, commencing at four o'clock, in 
the presence of a large congregation. The exercises 
were opened by Rev. Joseph S. Travelli invoking 
the blessing of Almighty God on the contemplated 
enterprise. Mr. Richard E. Breed, Secretary of 
the Board of Trustees, then read a very full histor- 
ical record of the church from its organization, the 
main facts of which are included in the dedicatory 
sermon of Dr. Riddle. 

Rev. D. H. Riddle, D. D., the first pastor of the 
church, then delivered a brief address. 

A hymn, written for the occasion, by Mrs. Herrick 
Johnson, was sung, after which an appropriate 
address was made by Rev. Herrick Johnson, at that 
time the pastor of the church. 

A copper box, containing a bible, historical rec- 
ord, including list of former and present members, 
plan, description and estimated cost of building, 
photographs of pastors and others, Presbyterian His- 

(c) 17 . 



torical Almanac, copies of the Evangelist and Amer- 
ican Presbyterian, New York and Pittsburgh daily 
papers, City Directory, and specimens of United 
States Currency, was then placed in the stone, and 
the corner stone was laid ; after which Dr. Kiddle 
offered an impressive Dedicatory Prayer, the Dox- 
ology was sung, and the ceremonies concluded by 
the Benediction, pronounced by Rev. Wm. Preston, 
D. D., Rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. 

The occasion was a happy one, and the proceed- 
ings were exceedingly interesting. 



18 



jjiie jjcur ^hurdt luiluimj. 



The building is situated at the corner of Sixth 
avenue and Cherry alley, on a lot measuring one 
hundred and twenty feet front, on Sixth avenue, and 
two hundred and forty feet deep, on Cherry alley. 
The extreme dimensions of the edifice, measuring 
from outside to outside of buttresses, are one hun- 
dred and three feet in front, and one hundred and 
ninety-seven feet in depth. The exterior height, 
from the floor to the ridge of the roof, is eighty-five 
feet. The building is in the Norman style of archi- 
tecture, and is constructed entirely of Freeport stone, 
finely dressed throughout, and elaborately orna- 
mented in many portions. 

The main floor comprises vestibule and audience 
room. The vestibule is of irregular shape, measur- 
ing thirteen feet by ninety. The audience room, 
measuring on the floor, is ninety-one feet six inches 
in length, by seventy feet in width. The gallery is 
horse-shoe shaped, covering but a small portion of 
the floor, and running back over the vestibule, and 
will seat two hundred and fifty persons. The organ 

19 



is located behind the desk. The interior length of 
the audience room, measuring from the back of the 
gallery to the back of the organ, is one hundred and 
twenty feet. 

The rear of the main floor contains the pastor's 
study, the lecture room, the church parlor, the halls 
leading thereto, besides various offices. This part 
contains the only second story, which is conveniently 
divided into five rooms, for bible class and Sunday 
schools. 

The interior finish of the main audience room, is 
executed entirely with black walnut. The windows 
are of stained glass, with the colors and devices 
tastefully selected. The large window in front, 
opening upon the gallery, and throwing a mellow 
lustre over the whole interior, is a master piece of 
art. 

The pews on the ground floor — in number one 
hundred and fifty-two — are of walnut, divided into 
three blocks, by four aisles. In the gallery there 
are fifty-eight. All are built in semi-circular form, 
so that the occupant of each seat in the church faces 
the pulpit. The whole number of pews will com- 
fortably seat about thirteen hundred persons. 

The audience room is warmed by a low pressure 
steam cylinder boiler, twenty feet long and thirty- 
two inches in diameter, which is located in the base- 
ment, under the front vestibule. The steam is dis- 
tributed by eight clusters of radiators, of sixteen 

20 



pieces each, placed in the basement, under the corri- 
dors, with adjustable registers to admit the heat. 
Eight cold air registers are placed in different parts 
of the floor, for drawing the cold air downwards, so 
as to form a constant circulation in the building. 
The chapel building is warmed by the same appara- 
tus, regulated and distributed by flues and registers 
in the wall, so arranged that either or both stories 
can be warmed, as may be desired. 

In the rear of, and at right angles with the main 
building, stands the chapel, built of stone, in the 
same style of architecture as the church. On the 
first floor are the lecture room, for the social religious 
services of the congregation, a large, convenient 
room, well adapted for the purpose, and the church 
parlor, in which meet the sewing society, and the 
social gatherings of the congregation. 

On the second story of the chapel are the Sabbath 
school, library and bible class rooms, all well lighted, 
and conveniently arranged for the purposes for which 
they were designed. 

The spire of the building, located on the corner 
of Sixth avenue, on the Cherry alley side, will be 
two hundred and forty feet high from the surface of 
the ground. 



21 



j]editatori| $txma$. 



The new edifice of the Third Presbyterian Church 
of Pittsburgh, was solemnly dedicated to Almighty 
Grod on Sabbath morning, November 29th, 1868. 

Prof. Henry Rohbock, organist, opened the ser- 
vices with a voluntary. The choir, led by Mr. James 
Digby, sang a "Dedicatory Anthem,' 7 by Noleini. 

Rev. David H. Riddle, D. D., the first pastor of 
the church, invoked God's blessing. Rev. Frederick 
A. Noble announced the hymn commencing — 

" Before Jehovah's awful throne," 

Prof. Henry L. Hitchcock, D. D., of Western Re- 
serve College, read the 122d Psalm, and made the 
opening prayer, after which was sung the hymn — 

"Blow, ye, the trumpets blow." 

The Rev. D. H. Riddle, D. D., the first pastor of 
the church, who, with all the former pastors, had 
been invited to participate in the dedicatory services 
of the new house, then preached a commemorative 
discourse, selecting as his text the first seven verses 
of the 78th Psalm. 

22 



Rev. Henry Kendall, D. D., the second pastor of 
the church, after having read several passages of 
scripture, appropriate to the occasion, offered the 
dedicatory prayer. 

The congregation then sang — 

" Oh, Thou, whose own great temple stands," 

and the services of the morning were closed by the 
benediction, pronounced by Rev. Samuel M. Sparks. 

In the evening, the choir introduced the services 
by singing— 

" If ye love me, keep my Commandments." 

Rev. John W. Mears, D. D., of Philadelphia, read 
the 47th chapter of Ezekiel, and Rev. Melancthon 
W. Jacobns, D. D., of the Western Theological Semi- 
nary, offered prayer. 

Rev. Herrick Johnson, D. I)., of Philadelphia, the 
third pastor of the church, delivered a discourse on 
The Sanctuary of God as a Source of Influence, 
from a part of the twelfth verse of the 47th chapter 
of Ezekiel. 

Prof. Carroll Cutler, of Western 'Reserve College, 
made the closing prayer. The congregation joined 
with the choir in singing — 

"Shall we gather at the river." 

The benediction was pronounced by Rev. D. H. Rid- 
dle, D. D. 



23 



Ik Irptt. 



The organ stands in the rear of the pulpit, and it 
has been designed by the architect, and constructed 
with so much taste, that its front harmonizes with, 
and heightens the general effect of the whole interior 
of the church. The pulpit platform, the choir gal- 
lery, and the instrument, rise in due succession from 
the floor, and blend their several proportions into a 
unity of completeness well pleasing to the eye. 

The organ was built by Messrs. E. & G. Hook, 
of Boston. Having been contracted for in June, 
1867, it was placed in the church during the month 
of August, 1868. It was first displayed to the public 
on Saturday evening, October 31st, 1868, in a con- 
cert given by Dr. J. H. Willcox. The next day, 
November 1st, 1868, it began to be used in divine 
service. 

It is twenty-two feet wide, eleven feet deep, and 
thirty-three feet high. It has three manuals, of four 
and three-fourth octaves, and a peclale of two and 
one-half octaves ; it has thirty-one registers or speak- 
ing stops, thirty-nine draw stops, and one thousand 

24 



nine hundred and thirty-four pipes. The case is of 
solid black walnut, and the front show pipes are 
decorated in gold and colors. 
The Stops and Pipes are as follow: — 



"Bourdon," 16 ft. tone, wood, 58 pipes. 

"Open Diapason," 8 " metal, 58 

"Doppel Flote," 8 " tone, wood, 58 

"Viola da Gamba," 8 " metal, 58 
"Flute Harmonique," 4 " tone, " 58 

"Octave," 4 " " 58 

"Twelfth," 25" " 58 

"Fifteenth," 2 " " 58 

"Mixture," 4 ranks, " 232 

"Trumpet," 8 ft., metal, 58 

"Open Diapason," 8 ft., metal, 58 pipes. 

"Stopped Diapason," 8 " tone, wood, 58 

"Keranlophon," 8 " metal, 58 

"Flauto Traverso," 4 " tone, wood, 58 

"Octave," 4 " metal, 58 

"Violina," 4 " " 58 

"Flautina," 2 " " 58 

"Mixture," 2 ranks, " 58 

"Vox Humana," 8 " tone, tin, 58 

"Cornopean," 8 " metal, 58 

"Oboe," 8 " " 58 

(d) 25 



rgan, 



"Geigen Principal," 8 ft, 

" DULCIANA," 8 " 

"Melodia," 

"FuGARA," 

"Flute D'Amour," 

"PlCOLO," 

" Clarionet," 



metal, 58 pipes. 

8 " metal, 58 

8 " tone, wood, 58 

4 " metal, 58 

4 " tone, wood, 58 

2 " metal, 58 

8 " " 46 



"Open Diapason," 

"Bourdon,". 

"Violoncello," 



ettale. 

16 ft., wood, 30 pipes. 
16 " tone, " 30 " 
8 " metal, 30 " 



j|echan:ual ||egt$leri-s. 



Swell to Great. 
Swell to Solo, 
Solo to Great, 
Tremulant, 



Great to Pedale, 
Swell to Pedale, 
Solo to Pedale, 
Bellows Signal, 



Three Composition Pedals. 



^Uth.ThiLada, 



PULPIT AND ORGAN FRONT, 

THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



" Praise ye the Lord. 

Praise God in his sanctuary — praise him in the firmament of his 
power. 

Praise him for his mighty acts — praise him according to his excellent 
greatness. 

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet — praise him with the 

psaltery and harp. 
Praise him with the timbrel and pipe — praise him with stringed 

instruments and organs. 
Praise him upon the loud cymbals — praise him upon the high 

sounding cymbals. 
Let e\ r ery thing that hath breath praise the Lord — praise ye the 

Lord." 



27 



THE OLD THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

DESTROYED BY EIRE OCTOBER 21st, 1863. 



J^ISTORICAL DDRESS, 



BY 



Rev. D. H. RIDDLE, D. D 



ermon. 



Give ear, O my people, to my law : incline your ear to the words of my mouth I will 
open my mouth in a parable : I will utter dark sayings of old : which we have heard 
and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, 
shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his 
wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and 
appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make 
them known to their children : That the generation to come might know them, even 
the children which should be born ; who should arise and declare them to their chil- 
dren : That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but 
keep his commandments. 

Psalm Ixxviii : 1-7. 

In these words of ancient Scripture, we have an 
ample justification of commemorative discourses, 
such as my dear old flock have kindly asked me to 
make on this joyous occasion. The Psalmist was 
inspired to tell to his people, what he and others of 
his contemporaries "had heard and known." "We 
will not," he says, "hide from our children," what 
God hath wrought in former days, " showing to the 
generation to come, the praises of the Lord, and 
his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath 
done." This he did, as he says, that in this review of 
the past, "they, also, might set their hope in God, 
and not forget his works, but keep his command- 
ments;" or, as he says elsewhere, "tell to the gen- 
eration following," that "this God is our God, forever 

29 



and ever" — "the same yesterday, to-day and for- 
ever;" an unchangeable, faithful, covenant-keeping 
God, from generation to generation, from age to age 
— yea, "from everlasting to everlasting." Oh! thou 
God of our fathers ! and our God, be the God of our 
children, and their's, in all coming time. Grant that, 
while sun and moon endure, they may have a seed 
to serve thee, that the children yet to be born, may 
arise and declare to their ? s "what God hath wrought." 

And not only so : We are not only amply justi- 
fied by this inspired precedent, but we are under an 
obligation to do so, by the injunction here announced, 
and evidently, I think, designed to be perpetual: 
"For he established a testimony in Jacob, and ap- 
pointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our 
fathers that they should make them known to their 
children, that the generation to come might know, 
even the children which should be born, who should 
arise and declare them to their children." Thus, 
alike by precedent and by express precept, we are 
authorized, from one generation to another, to pre- 
serve the memory of "the wonderful works of the 
Lord," and "to shew the praises of the Lord," to 
encourage trust, and inspire hope, in the unchangea- 
ble Jehovah. With this view, not in the spirit of 
vainglory, but of devout thankfulness, we would 
trace with you to-day, the history of God's dealings 
with the Third Church of Pittsburgh. 

30 



It seems eminently proper, that we should now 
remember all the way the Lord hath led this people, 
that we may thus more intelligently and gratefully 
erect our Ebenezer, and say, "Hitherto the Lord 
hath helped." 

It seems to be a fitting occasion, too, for such a 
commemoration, now, when in God's good provi- 
dence, this congregation and church are dedicating 
to the service of Almighty God, this new and beau- 
tiful edifice, and when all the successive pastors of 
the church are permitted to unite in this delightful 
service. And I may be allowed to say, that to me 
personally, after the lapse of thirty-five changeful 
years since I became your first pastor, it is a matter 
of sincere gratitude to God, that I am spared to be 
present, and to join in these services. And it is a 
source, too, of peculiar gratification, to witness, in 
this noble structure, and, indeed, in every thing 
around me, to-day, evidences of the present pros- 
perity and pledges of the permanency of this dear 
church, to which the longest period of my earthly 
ministry was consecrated. 

As with mingled emotions of memory and hope 
we laid the corner stone of this temple of God, so 
now, with solemn gladness of heart, with thanks- 
giving and praise, we dedicate it to his service and 
worship. Permit me, also, to say, that I am glad to 
know that so many of the massive stones of the dear 
old sanctuary have been wrought into the founda- 

31 



tions of the new, thus linking the past and the 
present, and giving a kind of symbolic assurance 
that the principles on which the church was origin- 
ally founded, and by which it was first governed, and 
prospered, are to be hereafter perpetuated. The 
remnant of those earlier clays, of which I am the 
representative, may be allowed to mingle with our 
congratulations at the completion of this noble 
monument of your zeal for God and his worship — 
our reminiscences of that other building, where we 
toiled, and struggled, and prayed, to lay the founda- 
tions of your present prosperity. That hallowed 
spot, at the corner of Third and Ferry, some of us 
can never forget — the place where we worshiped 
together, in the clays of our espousals as pastor and 
people. My old study in the steeple, with its hal- 
lowed associations, comes back to my memory, 
to-clay, as I have admired and rejoiced in that of 
your present pastor, a place where clear brethren, 
some now at rest, and some yet remaining, wept 
and sung together, in days gone by, but never to be 
forgotten. The old lecture room, too, the scene of 
precious revivals, the birth-place of many who now 
constitute the strength and glory of this church : it 
comes up to the memory of many hearts through 
the dim shadows of the past. 

Blessed old church! "Saved as by fire" once, 
amidst the terrors of that memorable 10th of April, 
and which, at last, with its beautiful spire — graceful, 

32 



I am told, even in its fall — went down on that dole- 
ful October day, amidst the tears of its founders and 
friends, and the sympathies of a whole population. 
Yes ! the former house had a glory, and has a mem- 
ory. Yet I trust I can sincerely pray, that the glory 
of this latter may be greater, every way. That our 
youthful successor, my brethren, when years have 
rolled away, may commemorate "to the generation 
following,' 7 "the wonderful works of the Lord, and 
his praises," with as glad and grateful hearts as we 
do to-day ! 

"Peace be within these walls, prosperity within 
these palaces ; for my brethren and companions' 
sake, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Be- 
cause of this house of the Lord," our common God, 
"I will seek," and while life lasts, pray for "thy 
good." "Arise, oh Lord! thou and the ark of thy 
strength. Here let thy priests be clothed with right- 
eousness;" yea, "with salvation," "and thy saints 
shout for joy." " Save now, I beseech thee, oh 
Lord ; oh Lord, I beseech thee, send now pros- 
perity." 

In attempting to perform the task you have as- 
signed me, let me first trace the steps which led to 
the original organization of the Third Church of 
Pittsburgh : 

It pleased God to grant to the First Church of 
this city, then under the pastoral care of Dr. Her- 
ron, delightfully refreshing seasons of revival, from 

(e) v 33 



the year 1828 to 1832, which resulted in the gather- 
ing of a large number of young and active men of 
business into its communion. After this, and as one 
of its legitimate fruits, it suggested itself to the 
friends of Christ, that something ought to be done 
in the way of church extension, and the more effi- 
cient employment of this spiritual capital, for the 
cause of the Redeemer. It seemed obvious to all, 
that a new Presbyterian organization, and centre of 
influence, was imperatively demanded, to meet the 
growing wants of the population. This sentiment, 
common to all energetic Christians, was felt by none 
more deeply than by the magnanimous pastor of the 
First Church, who had previously, in more than one 
case, verified the scriptural principle ; "there is that 
scattereth, and yet increaseth," and who always 
maintained the truth of the converse proposition, 
" There is that withholdeth more than is meet, and 
it tendeth to poverty." 

The name of Dr. Francis Herron will always be 
inseparably identified with the early history of this 
church. His noble disinterestedness in the first stages 
of its existence and progress, is worthy of lasting 
remembrance and imitation. With a magnanimity 
worthy of all praise, he consented to set off for a 
new organization, some of the most energetic young 
members of his church, the fruits of repeated and 
precious seasons of revival — young and strong men 
then, whose zeal in sustaining prayer meetings and 

34 



Sabbath Schools, gave rich promise for the future. 
The first operations of this little band, without any 
church organization, were directed by the Rev. Dr. 
Riley, now of Montrose, Penn'a., who preached in 
" The Old Court House," to solemn and attentive 
audiences, and with manifest evidences of useful- 
ness, during the winter of 1832, and left in the 
beginning of the next year. The Third Presbyte- 
rian Church was formally organized by a Committee 
of the Presbytery of Ohio, consisting of Drs. Herron, 
Swift and Campbell, early in the year 1833, "in 
compliance," as stated in the first page of its records, 
"with the wishes of several individuals, members of 
Presbyterian churches in this city." "The several 
individuals " who thus petitioned the Presbytery, 
were Richard Edwards, Thos. J. Campbell, C. P. 
Wetmore, A. H. Hoge, Isaiah Dickey, Dr. Wm. F. 
Irwin, of the First Church, and Moses At wood, Wm. 
M. Semple and A. P. Childs, of the Second, then 
under the pastoral care of Dr. Swift ; of these, only 
the first and the last are with us to-day. Thirty-six 
persons, and eighteen families, composed the first 
organization — the large proportion of whom were 
from the First Church. Their names, generally in 
their own hand-writing, are inscribed in the records. 

The first elder of the church, was R. Edwards, 
who had sustained the same office, previously, in Dr. 
Herron's church. After the organization, and before 
obtaining a pastor, the congregation undertook the 

- 35 



enterprise of building a church edifice, the founda- 
tion of which was laid in the month of April, 1833. 
The cost of the building, which, at the time of its 
erection, was the most commodious and beautiful 
Protestant place of worship in the city, as in most 
similar cases, was unexpectedly great, and involved 
perplexing financial questions, which were all, how- 
ever, manfully met and overcome. The basement 
story, or lecture room, was ready for occupancy in 
December, and the whole structure in the month of 
August following, when it was dedicated, with appro- 
priate solemnities, to the service of Almighty God, the 
venerable Dr. Herron preaching the opening sermon, 
and pronouncing his patriarchal blessing on the con- 
summated work, whose progress he had watched 
with constant interest. The erection of the church, 
at the time, was a noble monument of the zeal and 
self-sacrifice of the first movers and founders of this 
congregation. It was the consecration of " the first 
fruits " of their increase in prosperous business, unto 
the Lord — an example whose influence is seen in the 
still costlier consecration of this day. "We will 
not hide from this generation," amidst their rejoic- 
ings, how much of their present prosperity they owe 
to those who bore for them the heat and burden of 
"the day of small things." They gave of their abil- 
ity, and even beyond, willingly to the house of the 
Lord, and he accepted their offerings. Like Heze- 

36 



kiah of old, "in the work they began in the service 
of the house of God, and in the law and the com- 
mandments, they did it with their hearts," and like 
him, also, " they prospered, 7 ' according to God's prom- 
ise. As in the days of Nehemiah, "they built the 
house," for the people had a mind to work, both in 
temporal and spiritual labors. 

I need hardly say that I was the first pastor of the 
church : Called June, 1833, accepted in autumn, 
.removed from Winchester, Virginia, and was in- 
stalled early in the winter of the same year, by a 
Committee of the Ohio Presbytery, consisting of 
Rev. Matthew Brown, then President, and Rev. Jno. 
H. Kennedy, then Professor in Jefferson College. 

It ma} T not trench on the proprieties of this ser- 
vice, as it was a part of " the wonderful works of the 
Lord," showing how "a man's heart deviseth his 
way, but the Lord directeth his steps," to advert 
very briefly to the circumstances which led to my 
first connection with the church, and to a pastoral 
relation which continued upwards of twenty-four 
years, more than two-thirds of its entire existence. 

Returning through this city, from Rochester, A T ew 
York, where I had been invited to visit the First 
Church, with a view of settlement as their pastor, 
and with purposes almost fixed to accept their call, 
and identify myself with Western Xew York, I came 
here without any knowledge of the existence or 
proposed organization of this church. I arrived at 

37 



a period of fearful expectancy in regard to the chol- 
era, then devastating the City of Wheeling, where 
my mother and family then resided. I attended a 
prayer meeting in the evening, in Dr. He iron's lec- 
ture room, and was naturally led to speak of "the 
pestilence walking in darkness, and the destruction " 
then "wasting at noon-day/' and of the glorious 
security of God's people at such a crisis. Providen- 
tially, two or three of the members of the new 
organization were present, though unknown to me 
personally, and this little incident, so unimportant 
in itself, under his ordering, without whose notice 
"not a sparrow falleth to the ground," led to results, 
in my case and that of the church, lasting as life, 
and, possibly, as eternity. Instead of proceeding on 
my journey, I accepted an invitation to preach before 
the congregation on the following Sabbath, was 
shortly afterwards called, and after a period of pain- 
ful perplexity as to my duty, accepted the call, and 
became pastor. Though these things are known to 
some, they will not be sorry to have them recalled, 
and in accordance with the precedent and prescrip- 
tion of our text, "we will not hide them from their 
children, shewing to the generation to come" the 
hand of God in the early history of this church. 

When the pastor elect, after bidding farewell to 
his former church and native land, arrived at his 
post, he met his future flock, for the first time, in a 
prayer meeting, then held on Thursday evening, in 

38 



an infant school room, a lowly place on Liberty r 
street, long since removed, where "they were assem- 
bled with one accord, in one place, waiting for the 
promise of the Father," and the presence of the Mas- 
ter. After the lapse of so many years, the emotions 
of that hour, and the impressions of that meeting, 
are precious memories — sweet and mournful, recall- 
ing the friendships of the past, "the eyes that shone, 
now dim and gone," and bringing over me a sense 
of the changes of life, which mingles its under-tone, 
in my heart and that of others, with the joyousness 
of this occasion. 

Shortly after the installation, the congregation 
added to the eldership, by a cordial vote, Frederick 
Lorenz and Moses Atwood, both of whom have 
been translated to the general assembly above. At 
the first meeting of the session after the installation, 
they received, by certificate from other churches, 
thirty-six persons, and by profession of their faith, 
Mr. John Chislett, now of Allegheny Cemetery, and 
Miss Jane Finney ; and before the first communion, 
seven others by certificate, and by examination, Mr. 
A. P. Childs, making an accession, in all, of forty- 
eight members. In this instance, as well as that 
previously noticed, the magnanimity of Dr. Herron 
was manifested in dismissing so many of his valua- 
ble members, to unite with the new enterprise. 

The services of the church, for nearly a year, 
were held in the lecture room, a period of almost 

39 



constant religions prosperity. We can scarcely con- 
vey an adequate conception of the delightful privi- 
leges then and there enjoyed. Some will still 
remember the evening services, in which we usually 
had the Christian fellowship of the pastor and mem- 
bers of the First Church, the fixed attention of 
crowded audiences, the tearful eyes, the joyous 
hearts, the silent and constant dews of divine influ- 
ence, the after-tarryings and earnest prayers, that 
made that room "a Bethel," and to many, " the gate 
of heaven." " Then, oh Lord, thy garden flour- 
ished ; every plant looked fresh and green. Then, 
thy word our spirits nourished." Some can yet say 
in the remembrance, " Happy seasons we have seen." 
1 'We will not hide these things from our children, 
shewing to the generation to come, the praises of 
the Lord." 

Shortly after the organization of the church, the 
session adopted a form of public admission to the 
communion, called "A Covenant," setting forth the 
professions, purposes and promises of those who 
professed their faith in Christ. Whatever might be 
said now, as was said then, of the expediency of this 
measure, it was an earnest protest, by the youthful 
church, against conformity with the world, and fash- 
ionable amusements, then, as always, one of the 
strong barriers to the church's true progress, and, at 
the same time, an earnest effort to elevate the stand- 
ard of spirituality, and personal consecration on the 

40 



part of its members. It may have excluded from its 
communion some of the gay and fashionable ; and it 
may have given occasion to what was called clan- 
nislmess, in the earlier periods of its history, but it 
certainly contributed to homogeneity of feeling, and 
was an element of true spiritual power, which has 
never been wholly lost. It was intended to promote 
closer social affections among the members, and to 
actualize the true ideal of the church as one 
family, having common interests and a common aim. 
While these objects were more easily attained in the 
beginning, there is reason to believe that it gave 
shape and coloring to its whole after history. 

During the first year of my pastorate, seventy- 
five were added to the communion of the church — 
thirteen by profession of faith, the rest by certifi- 
cate. During the winter of 1834-5, without any 
previous arrangement, the churches of this city were 
visited by the Rev. James Gallagher, then pastor in 
Cincinnati, who labored for several months, alter- 
nately, in the First and Third Presbyterian Churches, 
and with manifest and abundant evidences of accom- 
panying influences of the Holy Spirit. No one then 
doubted that "it was the Lord's doing, and it was 
marvelous in our eyes." "Our mouths were filled 
with laughter," and even those who were over-cau- 
tious and dubious said, "the Lord hath done great 
things for them. 77 As the fruits of this blessed visi- 
tation, and subsequent pastoral labor, forty-seven 



were admitted to the communion of this church, 
and, by a singular coincidence, the same number 
to that of Dr. Herron's church. These, together 
with other additions before the close of the year, 
amounted, in all, to sixty by examination, besides 
thirty-one by certificate, making the increase of the 
year nearly one hundred ! 

It is due to the truth of history, and the honor of 
God's name, and to M shew the wonderful works of 
the Lord," who blesses varied instrumentalities, to 
say distinctly, that of the persons then received by 
examination, after careful training, a large propor- 
tion, in both churches, continued to adorn their pro- 
fession, by consistent Christian deportment. Some 
are still with us to this day ; some are filling useful 
stations in other places, and some, after a longer or 
shorter sojourn below, have gone to their rest and 
reward above. Among the last, I remember, with 
peculiar feelings, Mrs. Munson, whose meek and 
quiet life of piety, which proved a blessing to her 
husband and household, closed in a death of more 
than usual triumph ; and, also, Mr. R. B. Curling, 
who professed his faith late in life, indeed, but whose 
child-like piety, substantial and principled benevo- 
lence, and special kindnesses to the pastor of his old 
age, will rise up in sweet remembrance to others, as 
well as to myself, at the mention of his name. May 
his mantle continue with his children's children, and 



42 



with their 's, along with his memory, "that they may 
set their hope in God, and not forget his works." 

The succeeding years, 1835-6, were specially 
memorable as the period of the meetings of the 
General Assembly and the Convention, in this city, 
the trials for heresy, and the discussions which led 
ultimately to the disruption of the body, by the acts 
of exscision, in 1837. All these, along with the gen- 
eral pecuniary pressure of the latter year, were 
unpropitious to the interests of spiritual religion. 
The minds and hearts of ministers and members 
were drawn aside from the great matters of inward 
growth in piety, and outward progress in the ingath- 
ering of souls, to the unhappy doctrinal controversies 
then agitating the church, and the discussions of 
measures and instrumentalities for promoting revi- 
vals, and carrying on the work of foreign and 
domestic missions ; yet fifty members were added 
during the year 1836, and forty-seven in 1837. 

The Third Church, from its inception, and from 
the previous training of its chief constituent mem- 
bership, under Dr. Herron, was in full sympathy 
with the men and measures, the spirit and peculiar 
principles of that portion of the Presbyterian Church 
which has come to be known as "The New School." 
It was from the beginning strongly imbued with the 
element of "liberty in prophesying," a freer and 
more genial interpretation and application of the 
great principles of orthodox Calvinism, and the 

43 



unshackled privilege of benevolent contribution, in 
such channels as individual conscience approved, 
without the imposition of authority. With such 
principles, and after such training, it was natural, 
therefore, that both pastor and people should protest 
against the acts of exscision, and sympathize, not 
with the alleged errors, but with the sufferings, and 
what we deemed the unrighteous oppression of the 
exscinded portion. In these respects, we had previ- 
ously stood on common ground with a large number 
of the ministers and members of the Presbytery ; 
after the division of the church, however, it was 
thought best to adhere, for the present, and with 
distinct protest against the measures which produced 
the division, to the Presbytery of Ohio. And so the 
church did, in good faith, from that time, during the 
whole period, when the first decision of Judge Rog- 
ers gave the funded property of the church to the 
other party. I here desire distinctly to state the 
fact, to the honor of this church, and the truth of 
history, that it continued its connection with the Old 
School body, when they were stripped of the prop- 
erty by legal adjudication, and that the first move- 
ments toward identification with the New School, 
were only made after the decision of the Court in 
Banc virtually gave all the property to the Old 
School, and when the previously exscinded became 
again the suffering party. The question of the per- 
manent position of the Third Church was one of 



great difficulty and perplexity, on which good men 
differed — to none more so, for obvious reasons, than 
to the pastor. Various expedients were suggested 
for preserving, if possible, the unbroken integrity of 
the church. All these having failed, and the peace 
and prosperity of the church seeming to be vitally 
imperiled by a continuance of uncertainty and con- 
troversy, and mutual alienation, the pastor of the 
church took the responsibility of transferring his 
relations from the Presbytery of Ohio, to the Second 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, and thus to the other 
General Assembly. The reasons of this course were 
publicly announced shortly afterwards, and a large 
proportion of the church and congregation approved 
the decision, and resolved to identify themselves 
with that body. They also honorably proffered to 
those who were otherwise minded, to restore seventy- 
five per cent, of all the money contributed by them 
for the erection of the building, to secure its peace- 
ful and legal possession to themselves. This arrange- 
ment was ultimately ratified by both parties, and 
those who left the church were regularly dismissed, 
at their own request, to other congregations, Pres- 
byterian and Methodist, amounting, in all, to six 
families. Thus, both the ecclesiastical and property 
relations of the church were satisfactorily and per- 
manently adjusted. 

Soon after the settlement of these perplexities, it 
pleased God to grant a precious season of refreshing 



to the church,, which more than supplied the losses 
occasioned by the movements already stated. As 
the fruits of this gracious outpouring of the Spirit, 
which then seemed to us all as an evident seal of his 
approbation, more than sixty persons were received 
by examination during the year 1840. and twenty- 
three by certificate, and this prosperity continued 
more or less for several years afterwards. ,; TTe will 
not hide from the generation following, the praises 
of the Lord." in granting these precious seasons of 
revival, by which the church :; was edified, and walk- 
ing in the fear of the Lord, and the comfort of the 
Holy Ghost, was multiplied" in numbers and effi- 
ciency. "We will mention the loving kindness of 
the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to 
all the Lord bestowed" on his people, "according to 
his mercies and the multitude of his loving kind- 
nesses/' that "children's children may set their hope 
in God. and not forget his works.' 7 

In January, 1840. the congregation added to the 
existing eldership. Messrs. Geo. Albree, Thos. J. 
Campbell, and B. A. Fahnestock: of these, the last. 
B. A. Fahnestock. removed, in 1840, to Philadel- 
phia, where he officiated for years as an elder in the 
Arch Street Church, under the care of Dr. TTads- 
worth, and was removed, by death, in the year 1862. 
Mr. Thos. J. Campbell removed to Mineral Point, 
Wisconsin, in 1857, where he still officiates : and the 
other is here to-day. to mingle in our services. 

46 



It may be well to mention, in this connection, 
though not in precise order of time, that in 1850 
the Session was again increased by the selection of 
L. R. Livingston and Dan. Bushnell; the former of 
whom died in 1863, beloved and lamented. 

In 1858, H. W. Williams and Jas. J. Gray, and in 
1862, Benj. P. Bakewell and Jos. F. Griggs, were 
elected and installed as elders ; and Win. Thaw, Jos. 
Albree, and Wm. Warden, as deacons. 

During the year 1841, twenty-one were added by 
examination, and eleven by certificate. In 1842, 
twenty by examination, and fifteen by certificate. 
The year 1842 was painfully memorable for the 
number of apostacies and suspensions by the faithful 
exercise of discipline ; no less than four persons 
being that }^ear suspended from the communion, and 
another early in the following year. "We will not 
hide " this melancholy fact, showing, as it does, the 
fidelity of the Session in the administration of dis- 
cipline, when it became necessary — a part of duty 
to God and the church, as obvious and obligatory as 
any other, yet always distressing to every Christian 
heart. 

From 1843 to 1846, sixty-one additions were 
made to the church, of which thirty were by exami- 
nation. In the year 1845, the City of Pittsburgh 
was desolated by the great fire, and the history of 
the Third Church is inseparably interwoven with 
that memorable catastrophe, by the providential cir- 

47 



cumstance, that its preservation formed an regis 
which saved the city from a still greater devastation. 
Preserved amidst the burning, by God's blessing on 
the extraordinary exertions put forth, it stood as a 
wall of protection, till the destruction took a differ- 
ent direction. How many hearts, for years after- 
wards, were thrilled at the very sight of the build- 
ing, which, like the bush of Moses, burning but not 
consumed, was saved by Grod's providential interpo- 
sition. 

From the year 1846 to 1854, no very striking 
progress occurred in the history of the church, 
though it continued to maintain its steadfast position 
among the churches of the city, for adherence to its 
faith and order, and with a marked increase of 
kindly feeling on the part of other congregations. 
During this period, as far as can be ascertained, 
seventy-seven were admitted by examination, and 
sixty-six by certificate, to the communion of the 
church. Two or three circumstances are worthy of 
special commemoration during this period: In the 
year 1844, the pastor, with the advice and consent 
of the church, sought relaxation from toil, and ex- 
haustion, and threatened disease, for some months, 
with his friends and family, in the then far west. 
Just at this crisis, the edifice of the Second Presby- 
terian Congregation was consumed by fire, and the 
use of our church building was promptly tendered, 
to be occupied entirely by that people, during the 

48 



absence of the pastor, and jointly upon his return. 
This arrangement went into effect, and for three 
months the pastor and congregation worshiped with 
ours, under his ministrations ; and for nearly a year 
the pulpit was shared by the two pastors, the two 
congregations worshiping together on the Sabbath, 
and having their social meetings and communions in 
common. It is pleasant, and due to the memory of 
a good man, Rev. R. Dunlap, to state that through 
this whole period, the utmost cordiality and unre- 
served intimacy subsisted between the pastors in 
these peculiar circumstances, which continued after 
his removal to his own church edifice, and until his 
lamented death. I have reason to believe that the 
fellowships then formed between these churches, 
exert their happy influences to this clay, showing 
how easy, and how blessed, too, it is for brethren, 
though separated by denominational lines, to dwell 
together in unity of spirit. Whatever may be the 
issue of present negotiations for organic union, I 
cherish the abiding persuasion that the Presbyterian 
churches in this city will keep the unity of the spirit 
in the bonds of peace, in future, of which I have 
given a beautiful illustration from the past. It is 
"as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew which 
descended on the mountains of Zion, where the 
Lord commanded the blessing, even life forever- 
more." 

(g) ±9 



About this time, an overture was made by the 
Presbytery of Ohio, to the Third Church, and the 
Church of Minersville, then, as now, under the care 
of the Rev. Mr. Sparks, to unite with that Presby- 
tery. This overture, after respectful consideration, 
and due consultation of the whole case, was unani- 
mously declined by these Sessions. Another over- 
ture, to the whole Presbytery, in a less official form, 
known as "The Fraternal Conference," was subse- 
quently made, which, after discussions not materially 
aiding fraternal feeling, was also declined. This 
movement, however, resulted in the transfer of one 
minister and congregation to the Presbytery of 
Ohio, the pastor and people of the Fifth Church, 
known now as the Central Presbyterian Church, 
under the care of Dr. Jacobus. 

On the 5th of April, in the year 1848, the church 
sustained a severe affliction, by the removal, by 
death, of Mr. Moses Atwood, who had been iden- 
tified with it from the beginning, whose example 
and virtues are consecrated in our memories. "A 
worthy and highly esteemed elder/' (I transcribe the 
words of the record,) "who was buried the Saturday 
following, in the cemetery, his remains attended to 
their last resting-place by a large concourse of rela- 
tives, friends and fellow-citizens." 

From 1854 to 1857, the congregation, without 
any special ingatherings, continued to prosper, and 
was consolidated, till it assumed a commanding posi- 

50 



tion among the churches of the city, and was es- 
teemed one of the strongholds of the body to which 
it belonged. Through much tribulation, and to a 
great degree isolated, it proved itself to be a plant 
which our Heavenly Father planted, and it was not 
destroyed, for a blessing was in it, as in Zion of old 
— as the new wine is in the cluster of grapes, even 
in its growth, so we may trace the blessings of this 
high day of rejoicing and prosperity, to the goodness 
of God in the past. 

In the spring of 1857, my pastoral connection with 
this church terminated, after twenty-four years of 
varied experiences. With mutually kind feelings, I 
bade farewell to a people with whom I had passed 
through so many changes — bright and dark days — 
whose joys and sorrows I had witnessed, whose bri- 
dals and burials I had attended, whose children I 
had baptized, and seen grown up to men and wo- 
men, and where I had experienced delicate and 
never to be forgotten kindnesses, and many substan- 
tial manifestations of affection. This was done in 
obedience to what then seemed to be orderings of 
Providence, and from a conviction that in the actual 
and prospective position of the New School body, 
some other pastor could, better than myself, con- 
serve and carry forward its prosperity. It is a mat- 
ter of thankfulness, that this separation was without 
any alienation of affection or confidence on either 
side, for surely I can say that never did any former 

51 



shepherd receive such unequivocal evidences of love, 
as I have received ever since from this people ; 
though, instead of the fathers, the sons have come 
up, and instead of the mothers, the daughters. 
Among all who rejoice with you this clay, no one 
can do so more unfeignedly than myself. I shall 
ever regard this church as my own child, and I shall 
only cease to be interested in it, or forget it, when 
my right hand forgets her cunning, and my remains 
slumber beside my loved and lost ones in the grave. 

After this separation, the congregation was served 
acceptably, for a short time, by the Rev. Dr. Jaco- 
bus, of the Western Theological Seminary, who 
shortly afterwards undertook to resuscitate the de- 
funct Fifth Church, by the organization of the Cen- 
tral Presbyterian. In October, of the same year, 
the Rev. Dr. Kendall was chosen pastor, who, after 
four years of faithful and useful labor, was called to 
the honorable and arduous post he continues to 
occupy, as Secretary of the General Assembly's 
Home Missionary Committee. The church con- 
sented to his removal, from a conviction of his 
admirable qualifications for this position, which his 
subsequent success has abundantly verified. The 
additions to the church, during the four years of 
Dr. Kendall's pastorate, were one hundred and forty- 
eight. 

During several intervals of vacancy in the pulpit, 
the people were served, with great acceptance, by 

52 



Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, of Hudson, President of West- 
ern Reserve College, who is with us to-day, at this 
"feast of dedication." 

The congregation, in 1862, secured the services of 
Rev. Herrick Johnson, whose untiring fidelity, emi- 
nent popularity, and abundant labors, were crowned 
with God's blessing, in the ingatherings of many 
souls into the kingdom, especially from the young. 
The refreshing dews of grace, and the copious show- 
ers which accompanied his ministrations, the grow- 
ing influence of the church during his pastorate, are 
known to you all, and too recent to require detailed 
statement. So, also, are the painful circumstances 
of his domestic affliction, which led first to a tempo- 
rary, and afterwards his permanent separation from 
the church, where his ministerial career was so pros- 
perous, and from the city where his zeal in all good 
enterprises was so marked. He left his memorial 
in the hearts of many who yet regard him as their 
spiritual father, their sympathizing counsellor, and 
their life-long friend. He is with us to-day, to 
rejoice with you in the successful completion of this 
enterprise, in the projection and progress of which 
he had so large an agency. 

During the pastorate of Dr. Johnson, the old 
church was consumed by fire, in October, 1863, soon 
after which measures were taken, and vigorously 
prosecuted, which have resulted in the completion 
of this noble edifice, dedicated to God's service to- 

53 



day — destined to be a lasting monument to the 
enterprise of this people, and a beautiful ornament 
to the city. May He whose presence and grace is 
the true glory of his earthly sanctuaries, who walketh 
amidst the candlesticks, and holds the stars in his 
right hand, who dwelleth as really with the humble 
and the contrite as in the high and holy place, beau- 
tify this place with his salvation, fill it to its utmost 
capacity with sincere worshipers, make it the birth- 
place of many, of whom it shall be said, this and that 
man was born there, and the highest himself shall 
establish her — the Lord shall count, when he writeth 
up the people, that "multitudes were born there." 

During the temporary occupancy of Mozart Hall, 
as a place of worship, G-od was pleased to preserve, 
notwithstanding its inconveniences and adverse cir- 
cumstances, the unity, peace and prosperity of the 
church, to a degree calling for devout gratitude ; and 
when the lecture room was used for the same pur- 
pose, he gave again, as in former times, precious 
tokens of his favor and presence, which should 
encourage all hearts to look for larger blessings, 
when now he has brought you through fire and 
water into this wealthy place. 

During the pastorate of Dr. Johnson, two hundred 
and forty-seven were added to the communion of 
the church, which, with twenty added since, makes 
the aggregate of admissions, for thirty-five years, 

54 



one thousand two hundred and six, being an aver- 
age of more than thirty-three per year. 

It only remains, in completing this history, to say, 
that in January last, the present pastor came to this 
church, to carry on the work in which we, his pre- 
decessors, have labored. We unitedly and fervently 
implore for him the benedictions of our common 
Father, that his life and health may be continued, 
that his bow may long abide in strength, that his 
success may be abundant, and that when the great 
harvest comes, those who sowed and those who have 
reaped, may rejoice together in the wonderful works 
of the Lord, in his dealings with this church and 
people. 

In this rapid review of the past, my brethren, the 
larger portion of which, for obvious reasons, has 
been occupied with its early history and my personal 
recollections, emotions have been awakened to which 
I cannot trust myself to give utterance, of those 
who welcomed me as a youthful pastor, and cheered 
me by their counsels and friendship — who toiled, 
and wept, and prayed together — how many have 
passed away ! The bright and beautiful, the strong 
and brave, the loved and lost, are gathered to the 
silent congregation, awaiting the resurrection. But 
I trust the abiding impression on my heart, and 
which is in greater consonance with the services of 
this day, is devout gratitude to God. Whatever 
may be the allotments of Providence for me in the 

55 



future, I feel that I have not lived in vain, when I 
see the position of this church among those of the 
city, and the light in which it is regarded throughout; 
the whole body. I adore that Providence that or- 
dered here the bounds of my habitation, and enabled 
me so long to continue its first pastor. When I 
remember its beginnings, its trials, the many unpro- 
pitious circumstances at various periods of its his- 
tory, and witness its present condition ; when I re- 
member that of its members, besides those in this 
particular organization, so many have filled, and are 
now filling, important positions of influence, as offi- 
cers and members, in different and distant parts of 
our land ; when I recall the fact that so large a pro- 
portion of its baptized youth have made a public 
profession of their faith, and so few have strayed 
into open vice, surely we all have reason to say, with 
adoring gratitude, ivliat hath God icrought. May the 
enlarged dimensions of this building be but a sym- 
bol of the enlarged prosperity of the spiritual body ; 
may the exceeding beauty and costliness of this 
earthly sanctuary be a type of the beauty and holi- 
ness adorning all the members ; may the loftier 
spire, when it is finished, be but a symbol and assur- 
ance of higher aspirations after more elevated spir- 
itual life; may the mild light that pours through 
these windows by day, and the cheerful radiance of 
the evening service, remind you all of that bright 
world where the Lord God Almighty is the temple, 

56 



and the Lamb the light thereof; may the songs and 
high-sounding praises of human voices, and your 
noble organ, remind you of, and prepare you for, the 
nobler songs and seven-fold hallelujahs on the sea of 
glass. When this noble structure has crumbled to 
dust, when the cloud-capt towers and gorgeous pal- 
aces, yea, the great globe itself, the earth and the 
works that are therein, have all passed away, and 
new heavens and earth have been inaugurated, and 
he who is Hope now, shall appear as our glorious 
King, may we all be ready to welcome him and 
share in his glory — be united with the General As- 
sembly and Church of the first-born, the innumerable 
company of angels and spirits of the just made per- 
fect; where we shall be before the throne of God, 
and serve him clay and night in his temple ; where 
we shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; 
where the Lamb, in the midst of the throne, shall 
feed us, and lead us to living fountains of water, 
and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. 



(h) 



57 




BY 



REV. HENf\Y KENDALL, D. D. 



edicatorg jjrago\ 



Our gracious and Almighty Heavenly Father, who 
art the author of every good and perfect gift, and 
by whom alone we have hope, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord, we rejoice in thee, and give thanks for all 
the wonderful manifestations of thy love which thou 
hast made to us. We thank thee that thou didst not 
leave our fallen world in darkness, but didst give 
thy Son to die, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life. We 
thank thee that thou hast established thy Church in 
the world, and bestowed on us such means of grace ; 
given us such privileges ; surrounded us with such 
restraints ; spoken to us by such voices of thy Provi- 
dence, and especially by thy Word, sanctifying them 
all by the Holy Spirit, so that many of us, we trust, 
though once alienated from thee by evil works, and 
the children of wrath, even as others, have been 
brought back and reconciled to thee, through thy 
dear Son, and have been adopted in thy family, and 
been made sons and daughters of the Lord Al- 
mighty. 

59 



When we think of our hopes to-day, and of the 
good way thou hast led us ; when we think of the 
history thou hast given this church, we rejoice in 
thee, and devoutly thank thee for thy goodness. 
Thou hast brought it through days of darkness and 
periods of affliction ; thou hast strengthened, and 
blessed, and guided it to this very hour. AVe thank 
thee for what our ears have heard, for what our 
fathers have told us, of thy wonderful works in the 
days of old. AVe thank thee for the memory of 
past scenes, that have been rehearsed to us to-day ; 
for periods of great revival, when thy children have 
been led to rejoice in thee, and many sinners have 
been led to Christ. Come, Lord, and bless us in 
the future, as thou hast done in the times that are 
past. 

Lord, the heaven of heavens cannot contain 
thee, much less this house, which thy servants have 
built for thee ; nevertheless, thou art accustomed to 
dwell in tabernacles on the earth, and to hallow 
with thy special presence, the places where thy chil- 
dren meet to worship thee. And now, our Father, 
this house which has been built for the glory of thy 
name, with all that pertains to it, with all the cost, 
and all the care, eveiy stone and beam, every clasp 
and nail, every part, and portion, and appointment 
thereof, we bring to thee as a free-will offering, and 
cheerfully dedicate it all to thee. Arise, Lord, 
into thy resting-place, thou and the ark of thy 

60 



strength ; let thy people rejoice in thy goodness, and 
shout aloud for joy. Come and fill the hearts of 
thy saints and thy ministering servants with thy 
love. Come and fill this house with thy presence, 
and let the glory of this latter house be greater 
than the glory of the former house ; make richer 
displays of thy grace, and of thy power and glory, 
in building up the Kingdom of the Redeemer. May 
this sacred desk always be filled by those who shall 
speak the Word in simplicity and faithfulness, and 
may it be accompanied with the demonstration of 
the Spirit, and with power. Here let the law speak 
forth. Here let the consolations of the Gospel be 
uttered with great tenderness, and the promises of 
the Gospel be rehearsed with fidelity. Let the poor 
always be welcome to this house, and the outcast 
and needy here find a defender. 

Lord, how many occasions will there be when 
thy children will come here overwhelmed with sor- 
row — crushed by the weight of sudden grief, and 
some new and unexpected affliction ? In all days 
of darkness and times of mourning, when thou dost 
chastise the city or the nation — in days of war, if 
war should come again, when thy people gather here 
to humble themselves and confess their sins, do thou 
meet them and listen to their prayers, and grant 
them needed relief. Let the words of thy grace be 
sufficient for them, and in thy house and thy service, 



61 



may they find such comfort and peace as the world 
can never give. 

We thank thee for the blessed evidence we have, 
that so many in this congregation, in times past, 
have been ripened for rest and glory at thy right 
hand. Still continue to gather from it sanctified 
ones for thy service above. The aged ones, who 
have long borne the heat and burden of the day, 
gather gently to thyself. 

The young, and strong, and hopeful, that have 
been more recently gathered into this fold, do thou 
bless, and develop, and ripen their virtues and 
graces, and make them very useful in their day and 
generation. 

We pray, also, for those who have gone out from 
this church, that are adorning their profession else- 
where. The Lord be with them, and aid them in 
their work. We pray, also, for all the children of 
the covenant, and the children of the congregation, 
and all who have been connected with our Sabbath 
Schools. If any of them are now straying from 
thee, have mercy on them ; follow them by thy 
Spirit, and sanctify the influences that have been 
round about them in their earlier years, and bring 
them to the knowledge of the truth, as it is in 
Christ Jesus. 

Continue to bless the Sabbath Schools connected 
with this congregation ; bless all the heads of fami- 
lies ; bless all the officers in this church, and make 

62 



their labors successful, and acceptable in thy sight : 
and so make it a greater blessing in the city and in 
the land, than ever before. 

Bless, oh Lord, all the churches in our country ; 
bless our country itself, in all its wide extent, in its 
developed and undeveloped resources, and secure 
them all to thyself. 

Hasten the day, Lord, when all the people in 
this land, and all other lands, shall know thee, from 
the least to the greatest ; when Jesus shall reign 
King of Nations, as he now is King of Saints, and 
the praise and the glory shall be unto thee, Lord, 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, forever and ever. 
Amen. 



Go 



jS ERMON, 

BY 

REV. HERRICK JOHNSON, D. D. 



§f[t fcnctrarg of |jod as a Jjoura of f njtujna 



(i) 



65 



ermon. 



Because their waters, they issued out of the Sanctuary 

Ezekiel xlvii : 12. 

These words occur in one of the visions of Eze- 
kiel, acknowledged by all commentators to be most 
difficult of interpretation, and hard to be understood. 

The prophet is shown a city and temple, which 
are described at great length, and with utmost par- 
ticularity of detail. There is nothing positively 
known, answering, in all respects, to these particu- 
lars, and explaining them. Some things, however, 
in connection with the vision, are too clear for ques- 
tion. The temple is never to be destroyed. It is 
the place of God's throne, and the place of the soles 
of his feet, where he shall dwell in the midst of his 
people forever. 

The name of the city is, "The Lord is There." 
Out from under the threshold of the door of the 
temple issue waters that widen and deepen, until 
they become a river that cannot be passed over. 
Every thing lives, whither the waters come. Trees 
spring up on their banks, whose leaf is fadeless, and 

67 



whose fruit is new every month. A very great mul- 
titude of fish fills the nets of the fishers spreading 
their nets in these waters. They are waters that 
gather volume as they flow ; they are life-giving- 
waters, healing and fruitful. And all this the 
prophet of God tells us, because their waters they 
Issued out of the Sanctuary. 

What else can this sanctuary, or temple, or city 
be, but Zion, the ]S T ew Jerusalem and City of God : 
the Gospel Church, spoken of elsewhere as a city 
and a temple — described as the habitation of the 
Most High — its walls called Salvation and its gates 
Praise ; nained as the place of the feet of Jehovah, 
and made an eternal excellency by reason of the 
presence, and the power, and the glory of the Lord ? 
No other structure answers to this description. No 
other city can rightly be named, "The Lord is 
There." No other temple walls are to stand forever 
and ever. Amidst no other people has God prom- 
ised to establish his eternal dwelling place. And of 
no other house is it said, " This is the law of the 
house : Upon the top of the mountain, the whole 
limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Be- 
hold, this is the law of the house." 

Clearer still is the warrant for this interpretation, 
when we consider the vision of the holy waters. 
The prophet saw them issuing out of the sanctuary. 
And the record of his vision is, when the man that 
had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he 

68 



measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me 
through the waters ; the waters were to the ankles. 
Again he measured a thousand, and brought me 
through the waters ; the waters were to the knees. 
Again he measured a thousand, and brought me 
through ; the waters were to the loins. Afterward 
he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I 
could not pass over, for the waters were risen — 
waters to swim in — a river that could not be passed 
over. 

This is a most apt and beautiful figure, illustrative 
of the spread of the Gospel. The waters issue out 
of the sanctuary. They are small in their begin- 
nings — so small, as the original word indicates, that 
they "drop down" as if from a bottle, not even 
forming a continuous stream. How this carries us 
back to that little company of eleven, House and 
Church of God, to whom Jesus said, "Go ye into all 
the world, and make Christians of all nations." 
What a strange commission ! Go ye, unlettered, 
unknown, preach this new Gospel, and proselyte the 
world to a serious religion. But the waters widen 
and deepen as they flow. And the wonderful thing 
about it is, that they gather sweep and volume, not 
from tributary sources, but by their own inherent 
and seemingly exhaustless power of self-develop- 
ment! Xo other spring feeds the waters than that 
which drops its contents out from under the thresh- 
old of the temple, and yet the waters become a 

69 



great and impassable river. Surely, these are the 
waters of salvation, flowing from Zion and Jeru- 
salem, by Christ the door — swelling as they flow — 
to which no other streams contribute, and yet whose 
flood shall increase in depth and compass, till they 
overspread the whole earth. Surely, this is the 
leavening influence of Christ's Gospel, lodged in the 
bosoms of those few disciples composing the Church 
at Jerusalem, spreading out from them, little by 
little, but taking on power as it expends power, and 
destined to leaven the world. This is the Gospel 
mustard seed, least of all seeds, but by its own inhe- 
rent power, becoming a great tree, so that the birds 
of the air lodge in the branches thereof. 

But the growth of the waters is not all: They 
go down into the desert, and are brought forth into 
the sea, and whithersoever they go, they impart life 
and healing. "Every thing shall live, whither the 
river cometh," says the prophet of God. " By the 
river, upon the bank thereof, on this side and on 
that side, shall grow all trees, whose leaf shall not 
fade ; neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed." 
Of what can all this be true, but the Gospel of Re- 
demption ? It is prophecy in a picture. It is the 
wilderness and the solitary place made glad. It is 
the desert rejoicing and blossoming as the rose. The 
waters are healing waters, fruitful waters, life-giving 
waters — waters of redemption. They are the trans- 
forming, beautifying, life-inspiring influences going 

70 



out from the Church of the Living God, visiting the 
waste places, and causing them to "break forth into 
joy; 7 ' gladdening all the trees of the field, so that 
they clap their hands ; going down into the sea, and 
converting the abundance thereof to the Lord ; 
bringing the forces of the Gentiles, and all kings, to 
see the righteousness and glory of Zion, and regen- 
erating the whole earth at last, so that her sighings 
and groanings are ended, and her very mountains 
and hills break forth into singing. 

Now, whatever specific thing these waters may be 
regarded as representing, whether the love of God, 
"channeled in Christ," and first breaking forth in 
his mission into the world, under the threshold of 
him, the door of the Church ; or, the Spirit of Gocl, 
first flowing from the Church at Pentecost, and des- 
tined to be poured out at last upon all flesh, com- 
pared to life-giving, cleansing, and fructifying waters, 
because of his regenerating, and sanctifying, and 
grace -imparting power ; or, the Gospel of God, the 
truths that first began to be preached by Peter, and 
that are working their transforming w T ay into and 
through men's hearts, with constantly increasing 
influence and success ; or, whether these waters of 
Ezekiel's vision may be regarded as representing, in 
general, all that regenerating and spiritualizing influ- 
ence and power by which the race is to be elevated 
and man renewed, and the waste places beautified, 
and the w T hole earth made the Garden of the Lord : 

71 



In either ease, or in any ease, it is to be noted that 
the waters, "ikey issued out of the Sanctuary" Zion 
is the source of these activities. From under her 
threshold these healing; waters flow. Her righteous- 
ness is to go forth as brightness, and her salvation as 
a lamp that burneth. The Gentiles shall see her 
righteousness, and all kings her glory. By the 
Church, and through the Church, is to be made 
known the manifold wisdom of God. By the Church, 
and through the Church, the Holy Ghost is to con- 
vince the world of sin. and righteousness, and judg- 
ment. Only her walls are called Salvation. She is 
the place of God's habitation. He bows the heavens, 
and comes clown to dwell with her. She belongs to 
him. She is graven on the palms of his hands. 
She is the Church of the Living God. And the 
strength, and the beauty, and the glory of God. are 
in his sanctuary. : 'He has made nothing like her 
this side of heaven, and on nothing earthly does he 
bestow such wakeful, warm and tender regard." 
And it is this life of God in his Church, that gives to 
the waters issuing from the sanctuary, their healing, 
and fructifying, and living power. 

Xow. what is true of the Church as a whole, is 
true of every part of the Church. What is true of 
the Church in general, is true of each Church, so 
called, in particular. Wherever there is a sanctuary 
dedicated to God, and a community divinely chosen 
and called to the knowledge and life of God ; not a 

72 



mere organism, but a living body, there the vision 
of Ezekiel repeats itself ; or, rather, there the picture 
of the prophet of God becomes a reality. Waters 
flow forth that deepen and widen in their onward 
movements. Influences are sent out that gather 
power as they go, and no earthly measuring line 
shall finally be able to reach across those waters. 
No number of cubits can give us ultimate sweep of 
those influences. The waters cannot be passed over. 
The influences stretch away into eternity, and can 
be known only to God. 

And, if the sanctuary be truly the sanctuary of 
the Most High, the place of God's throne, and the 
place of the soles of his feet — if the truth and the 
life of God be there, the waters issuing forth shall 
be for healing, and all over the broad earth there 
shall be beauty and joy, because of their flowing; 
and along the banks of them, on this side and on 
that, shall spring up trees of righteousness, robed 
with immortal foliage, and fruitful forever. 

The Sanctuary of Gocl, as a source of spiritual 
influence and power, is the theme suggested by the 
vision of the prophet. This influence I regard as 
three -fold. The influence of the sanctuary itself, 
the influence of the truth preached, and the influ- 
ence of the truth as exemplified in the lives of the 
church-membership. Or the influence of the House 
of God, of the ordinances of the House, and of the 
worshipers. In either case, the influence is not 

(j ) 73 



inherent, but derived. It is not in the structure 
alone, in the truth alone, in the life alone, hut in 
each and all, as God is in them, and associated with 
them by the manifestations of his grace and power. 

I. The Sanctuary itself — the very structure — tlie 
material building icork, contributes to the influence 
going out from it. 

Christianity is not wholly an inner life. It is an 
outward manifestation as well. The words of the 
Master to the woman of Samaria, "Believe me, the 
hour cometh when ye shall, neither in this mountain, 
nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father," were not 
meant to sweep away all locality and external fixed- 
ness in religion. They do, indeed, inculcate spiritu- 
ality of worship, and make God accessible to the 
meanest outcast or poorest wanderer anywhere on 
life's highway, in any wilderness or desert-place, 
but they give no sanction whatever to the pietism 
that would substitute frames, and feelings, and expe- 
riences, for all embodiment and outward form of 
godliness. 

Jesus himself, in his own duality of nature, is 
Christianity's unanswerable protest against a religion 
of inner light and life alone. "God manifest in the 
flesh," tells at once the two-fold necessity of all true 
worship, and strikes the balance between doctrine 
and mode, between inward power and outward 
manifestation. The Christianity, therefore, most 

n 



truly imitative of its divine founder, struggles to 
express itself — seeks embodiment — inevitably, and 
by the very law of its being, meets man's complex 
nature by a substance not only, but a form ; by a 
spirit not only, but a life ; by an address to the soul 
not only, but an address to the sense. 

It does not rest in the form, nor inhere in it, but 
grasps it and uses it, and tells men what religion is, 
by what it does — embodying itself as a power, 
through visible and tangible modes. All forms of 
worship are the outbreaks of this innate and inev- 
itable tendency. Religious emotion finds vent in 
speech and posture. Varied religious experience, 
has as varied and manifold expression. Desires, 
aspirations, conceptions, must have their outward 
representation, and their commensurate activities. 
Thoughts of God, and what is due to him, get em- 
bodiment in the work of human hands, and most 
spiritual worshipers are helped, and are helpful, 
through locality and manifestation. 

Hence all religions, of all ages, build. In every 
form of structure, from the rude altar to the temple 
covered with plates of gold, has the constructive 
genius of religion given itself expression. Jacob 
reared an altar to Grod, where he was answered in 
the day of his distress. David aspired to build a 
house for the Lord, and made preparation for it. 
Solomon took the plans and carried up the structure, 
a temple of incomparable splendor. Later, when 

75 



that temple was in ruins, the prophet rebuked Israel, 
saying, "Is it time for you, ye, to dwell in ceiled 
houses, and this house lie waste?" And the Christ- 
ian religion, spiritual as it is, builds also, and rears 
to God its sanctuary. It cannot help it. For it 
has pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to 
save them that believe ; and this ordinance of God 
requires place and fixedness for its highest efficiency. 

To no special mountain, to no particular Jerusa- 
lem is it necessary now for the tribes of the Lord to 
go up. We may make our Jerusalem anywhere. 
No magnificent national temple is needed in the 
Christian era. But instinctively, and of necessity, 
the new disciples resort to one place, and gather in 
companies and assemblies to hear the word of God, 
and to praise the Lord with psalms, and hymns, and 
spiritual songs. 

Following the necessity of the structure, is the 
fitness of it. Doubtless, to the most, the cathedral 
builders of Europe seem to have been carried away 
as by a passion, with their thought of building for 
God. Certainly, there followed the Crusades a mar- 
velous rearing of immense and imposing edifices, so 
that, as Dr. Bushnell says, "the romance, the church 
fervor, began to throw itself up in stone, as by a 
divine call.' 7 " It was as if the stone itself, bedded 
in cruciform lines of foundation, had shot up into 
peaks, and pinnacles, and pointed forms, and sprung 

76 



its flying buttresses across in air, by some uplifting 
sense or quickened aspiration." 

Call this temple building, in these earlier centuries, 
waste and extravagance, if you will ; this much must 
be admitted, the public assembly and church organi- 
zation have divine sanction. Temples of worship 
are a necessity. God's way, as of old, is in the 
sanctuary. Nothing can supply the place of an 
ordained ministry — ministering at God's altars, in 
structures set apart for his service. Sacred edifices 
are made indispensable by God's established ordi- 
nances. It is true, these ordinances may be celebra- 
ted everywhere, and herein is our advantage over 
the Jews. But the place of their stated observance 
is hallowed by manifestations of God's grace and 
power, and there is fitness amounting to demand, 
and desirableness reaching to the point of necessity, 
that it should be kept from secular and profane use. 
God consecrates the sanctuary. We dedicate it. He 
comes down into it. He makes it the place of his 
throne, and the place of the soles of his feet. By a 
better witness than the visible Shekinah, he tells us 
of his presence in the holy temple. There, oftener 
than an}^where else, does he inform the truth, and 
energize it with all divine activities — bowing the 
heavens and coming down in the person of the 
invisible Spirit, to overshadow our assemblies, and 
possess our hearts, and make us kings and priests 
unto God by a new and heavenly consecration. 

77 



Such a house, thus set apart, and thus hallowed, 
is itself a power in any community, and cannot be 
otherwise. In the midst of a godless multitude, it 
is ever speaking for God. It preaches Christ's Gos- 
pel not only on the Sabbath, but all the days of the 
week. It silently syllables the story of redemption 
to thousands that never darken its doors, and is a 
constant reminder of the truths of God and eternity. 
It is a city set on a hill, and the name of the city is, 
" The Lord is There." Its walls are salvation, and 
its gates are praise. It is God's house — the place of 
his habitation — a temple made with hands, indeed, 
but made glorious by the presence of him who 
inhabiteth eternity. Men know this, and feel it. and 
are influenced by it variously, and more often, far. 
than we think. 

And the very style of the structure, in this con- 
nection, is not unimportant. Is it meet that God's 
house should only answer to the baldest necessity ? 
Is his dwelling place to show meanness and parsi- 
mony, while the homes of his people are to have 
sumptuousness and all magnificence ? The sanctuary 
is our thought of what is clue to God. TVe rear it 
for him. We expect his way will be there. We set 
it apart for his holy habitation. Tell me, if it is at 
all seemly that there should be niggardliness in what 
is thus dedicated to God, while there is opulence 
and lavish outlay in our private and public secular 
edifices. Rather should God's house be the best 



78 



house, the most inviting, the most architecturally 
impressive. It should tell what men are willing to 
clo for religion, just as our exchanges, and acade- 
mies, and private buildings, tell what they are wil- 
ling to do for business, and art, and self. 

We are a Christian people, and with our growing 
power and our growing wealth, the stateliness of 
our churches should have some correspondence. 
When God's people of old were poor and wander- 
ers, a temporary and movable structure was suffi- 
cient for the ark and the mercy-seat ; but when they 
came to have established homes, in houses of cedar, 
and could command the means for it, they built an 
house for the Lord, " exceeding magnificaL" And 
with every token of approval, God took possession 
of that house, though upon it "architecture had 
exhausted all its power, and wealth poured forth the 
abundance of its treasures." 

So under the Christian dispensation, the buildings 
reared to God's honor, and dedicated to his service 
— called houses of the Lord, and kept sacred to his 
presence, and the displays of his glory and power — 
should exhibit the regard of the builders for God, 
and be appropriate monuments to their thoughts of 
him, and stand as evidences that parsimony did not 
prevail in religion, while profusion, and elegance, 
and architectural taste and impressiveness charac- 
terized all other building work. So shall our sanc- 
tuaries themselves increasingly influence the com- 

79 



munities in which they are reared, and prove more 
and more impressive in their silent witness for God. 

II. But the ordinances of the sanctuary are 
mightier far in their influence than the sanctuary 
itself. If the Lord is in his holy temple, he is espe- 
cially and pre-eminently in the truths preached, in 
the administered icord . and the administered sacra- 
ments, in the ordinances of prayer and praise. 

Christianity approaches men, not with the power 
of the sword, but with the power of the word. The 
sword is for the body ; the word is for the mind. 
The sword is to be submitted to ; the word is to be 
believed in. And it is not the word of man, not of 
apostle, nor of prophet, but of God. As such, it 
needs to be spoken, taught, preached. Faith comes 
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Yet 
how shall they believe in him of whom they have 
not heard? And how shall they hear without a 
preacher? Preaching is, therefore, God's ordained 
method of saving. Go ye, teach all nations ; preach 
the gospel to every creature. 

But who is this, that adds, "Lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world?" He is the 
essential Word, the eternal logos. Wisdom of Gocl, 
and Power of Gocl, and Word of God is He. Word 
of God, did I say? In its deepest, truest sense, God 
and the Word are one. "The word was with Gocl, 
and was God." How, then, can the truth be else 

80 



/ 



than mighty? It is the Son of God himself, going 
forth in ordinance and sacrament, to change men's 
minds, and transform and possess them. "I am the 
Truth." "This is my bodjr." Even so does he put 
himself in living, personal connection with men. 
Even so does he translate truth into himself, and 
himself into truth, summing it all up in his own 
divine-human personality, that men, by getting hold 
of the truth, may get hold of God again, and rein- 
state themselves in their lost manhood. 

Hence, where the truth is preached, Christ is 
preached — Jesus Christ and him crucified. And 
hence, the power of the word. Heaven and earth 
shall pass away, but that omnific word never. "Nor 
shall it return unto me void," saith the Lord; "but 
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall 
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 77 Think of 
the preacher, standing with Gocl behind him, thus 
preaching that word, so that it is "only the arrow 
in the bow which the Almighty draws." Think of 
truth, thus companioned and sealed as to its success 
by God's unchangeable promise, spoken Sabbath by 
Sabbath, and year by year, in the sanctuary. Can 
it fail? Shall God fail? As well he as his word. 
They go together. In Christ Jesus, between God 
and the Word, there is no longer any distinction. 

Now, start with the organization of a Christian 
church and the establishment of a sanctuary. God's 
commissioned servant, summoned to the ministry as 

(Is) 81 



by a divine call, takes his place. Truth has faithful 
exposition and enforcement. Ordinances of prayer 
and praise are statedly observed. Jesus Christ is 
set forth crucified. The story of the cross is sylla- 
bled o'er and o'er, by mute, yet eloquent and impres- 
sive symbols, as Christians gather at the sacramental 
board, to eat the bread and drink the wine of the 
Kingdom, and thus do shew their Lord's death till 
he come. 

Follow all this clown through the thirty-live years 
that this church has had an existence. Think what 
precious truth, and what volume of it. has been 
applied to men's consciences, and poured into men's 
hearts ; think whose the truth is. and what it is. and 
by what prayers and tears it has been baptized, and 
with what accompanying wrestlings and stragglings 
it has been preached ; recall the promise. ' : Lo, I am 
with you alway : " grasp the unconditioned assur- 
ance, " My word shall not return unto me void ; " — 
hold in your hearts all this, and you will surely be 
agreed that there is no possible measurement that 
can be given to these waters issuing out of the 
sanctuary. They sweep away from the doors of the 
house of Grod, and very soon they become waters to 
swim in — a wide and impassable river. Count up 
the jewels that have been placed in Christ's diadem 
through Truth's agency in this communion : say of 
this one and of that one. he was born in our sanc- 
tuary : call the roll of the hundreds that have thus 

82 



been won to immortality and to God ; and, having 
done this, have you measured the waters? Not at 
all. They have gone, in hidden currents, where God 
only can trace them. They have swept away si- 
lently, in streams that have been none the less fruit- 
ful, because they have made no noise. Hearts have 
been made glad by their coming, whose gratitude, 
though unknown to us, has, nevertheless, been throb- 
bed in the ear of heaven. Channeled by God's 
Spirit, they have flowed in ways of which we never 
dreamed, and their irrigation has made beautiful 
and fruitful many a heart's garden, whose beauty 
and fertility shall be revealed to us only when the 
secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. God's ser- 
vants, ministering at these altars, have not always 
known whither the waters flowed, but they have 
sometimes found them, "after many days," away, 
away from the sanctuary, in distant states and cities, 
and they have known whence they came, by the 
trees of righteousness growing up along their banks. 
So have I heard how truth preached here found 
lodgment in human bosoms, and bore fruit at last on 
death-beds and battle-fields, God having winged the 
seed that the human sower counted lost. Yea, the 
truth has been carried by those who have here felt 
its power, not only across this continent to the very 
golden gates of the Occident, but through the ever- 
lasting gates of the morning eastward. The waters 
from under the threshold of this Church of God have 



83 



visited the plains of India and the wastes of China, 
and so to the uttermost parts of the earth they have 
spread. And whithersoever the waters have gone, 
there the wilderness, and solitudes, and desert places, 
have felt their healing and living power. For 
thirty-five years they have been flowing, and who 
shall compass them ? Waters to swim in — a river 
that cannot be passed over. 

III. But the influence going out from the sanctu- 
ary is three-fold: the influence of the house of God, 
and of the ordinances of the house, not only, but of 
the worshipers; or the influence of the structure 
itself, of the truth, and of the life. 

These "living" temples, that constitute the Church 
of Christ, are more influential than the temples of 
wood and stone. Truth lived, is more mighty than 
Truth preached, for example is stronger than speech, 
and a life is better than a word. The life, indeed, 
is nothing in itself, any more than the truth or the 
structure ; but the life, as well as the truth and the 
structure, is made sacred and invested with influence 
and power, as God is in it, elevating all its aims, 
purifying its fountains, and transforming its very 
soul by life divine. 

Now, the Lord is in his holy temple, and the Lord 
is in his truth. But he is essentially, and above all, 
in his people. They live, and yet they do not live ; 
but Christ lives in them, and Christ is their life. 

84 



God hath given to them eternal life, and this life is 
in his Son. "Ye are the temple of the living God. 
As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in 
them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my 
people." Living epistles of Christ they are, then, 
written not with ink, but with the spirit of the liv- 
ing God. Men read them, and are moved by them ; 
and though withstanding all eloquent demonstrations 
and persuasive speech, they are often powerless be- 
fore the potent, nameless influence of a holy life. 

Here, after all, are the hidings of a church's pow- 
er — in her living body, in her Christ-jjossessed and 
Christ-like membership, in the indwelling life of God! 
Just as she has this, will she have influence. The 
measure of her divine life, will be the measure of 
her divine achievement and divine success. Out from 
under the threshold of the sanctuary, where the 
worshipers live nearest God, and most for God, will 
issue most healing and fruitful waters. Such disci- 
pleship, characterized by life from God, is a living 
support to the truth, a proof of its divine origin, a 
practical exemplification of its worth and power, 
and a perpetual commendation of it to men's con- 
sciences and hearts. 

"Ye are my witnesses," saith the Lord 5 as if God 
trusted his good name to the testimony of his people. 
"Ye are the light of the world," says the Master; 
as if the moral darkness were to be chased away by 
the light of his people's lives. "Ye are the epistles 

85 



known and read of men," says the Apostle ; as if by 
the gospel lived, rather than by the gospel written, 
men were to judge of the claims of Jesus of Naza- 
reth. Out of every believer in Christ "shall flow 
rivers of living water," says the Scripture ; as if the 
excellency, and the glory, and the power of God in 
regenerating, and beautifying, and making fruitful 
the whole earth, were to be displayed by and through 
the people of God. 

This is the biblical statement, and this is the his- 
toric fact. It is true of this church, as it is of every 
church: influence has been according to life; influ- 
ence for God, according to life for God. And who 
shall measure these waters ? Who shall tell, and by 
what possible computation, the bound and limit of 
the influence of thirty-five years of such spiritual 
life as has characterized this body of believers. All 
too unworthy of its privilege and opportunity, both 
the living and the dead would freely admit. Far 
short of what might have been, let it be willingly 
conceded. Yet beyond all possibility of measure- 
ment, and widening and deepening every clay, with- 
out a question. 

By what a cloud of witnesses we are compassed 
about in our sainted dead. These being dead, yet 
speak. Think how they bore testimony to the truth 
of Christ's evangel. Think how self-denyingly many 
of them labored in Sabbath School and mission 
work. Think, as they grew up into Christ, how men 

8G 



took knowledge of them that they had been with 
Jesus. Think how their walk with God gave them 
power with God, and how this power was used in 
baptizing the pulpit, in energizing the truth, in 
reclaiming the wanderers and saving the lost. Think 
how fiery furnaces got their dross, but did not get 
them, I remember some of them, in my own min- 
istry here, who, by their very crosses, climbed nearer 
to God. We saw them beholding, as in a glass, with 
unveiled face, the glory of the Lord, and changing 
into the same image, from glory to glory. I remem- 
ber their living, and their dying testimony ; how 
they got nearer their Lord, as they got nearer home ; 
how they grew to be victors over pain, and smiled 
their joy in Christ amidst spasms of keenest an- 
guish ; and how they passed through the waters at 
last, singing hymns to Jesus. These all are dead, 
yet they live, not only in yonder realms of joy, in all 
the vigor of immortal youth, but here in memory, 
in influence, in human hearts, clown into whose 
depths they made their way with moulding and 
transforming power. Out of their lives? in ever 
widening sweep, flow the healing waters still, that 
are beautifying and blessing other lives. And thus 
shall it be to the end of time. And the living are 
here, with the life of God in them; some of whom, 
through all the thirty-five years of this church's his- 
tory, have stood as trees of righteousness, whose leaf 

87 



has not laded, and whose fruit has been borne every 
month. 

All the influence of this Christian life, that has 
thus been lived by the grace of God, in connection 
with this Church of Jesus Christ, it is impossible to 
know. All the interests affected, all the conditions 
of society changed, all the wrongs righted, all the 
hearts' gardens irrigated, all the human spirits reach- 
ed and ransomed, all the souls directly and indirectly 
born to God. What earthly measuring line can 
measure these waters ? They are waters that cannot 
be passed over. But this much we know : We are 
not what we would have been, our children are not 
what they would have been, this city is not what it 
would have been, nor the country, nor the world, if 
this church had had no existence, and this life of God 
had not been lived. 

God in the house, God in the truth, God in the 
life — this is the secret of the augmenting power of 
these waters issuing from the sanctuary. This lifts a 
church out of the category of all other potential 
agencies for good, and is pledge of infinite resources. 

What interests, therefore, what possibilities, what 
destinies, are wrapped up in the history of a sanctu- 
ury of God? We, each of us, all of us, connected 
with such a sanctuary, affect its influence, modify it, 
increase or lessen it, as we live our life and do our 
work. The waters flowing from the threshold of the 
temple where we worship, have more or less of heal- 



ing and life-giving power, as responsibility is met, 
and duty done, and victory achieved, and as God is 
our life. Wide and mighty as the influence is, each 
soul's life goes into it all, and helps decide its direc- 
tion, and character, and efficacious power. Some- 
thing of each one of us enters into it — -is a part of 
it — and that influence, stretching away over the 
world, touching and moulding human hearts, to 
have its limits only with time and the race, is not 
what it would have been, if we had not been. It is 
something else. And that something else is what 
we have made it, and shall make it, by the way we 
pray, and how we live, and what we are. 

True as this is of us all, it is especially true of 
him who has stood in Christ's stead, ministering offi- 
cially at Christ's altars. His work, his word, his 
spirit, his thoughts of Grod, his life in God, his modes 
and moods, his grasp of truth, his inspirations and 
aspirations, the temper and frame-work of his whole 
inner spiritual experience, the very make and fibre 
of his soul — these all, must constantly, and decisive- 
ly, and vitally, affect the influence going out from 
the sanctuary. He is there in official place by divine 
call. He has Heaven's ordainment. He is Truth's 
expounder. He is the under shepherd, to lead and 
feed the flock, and break unto them the bread of 
life. He is the angel of the church — Grod's mouth- 
piece. 0, to him l this truth, this fact of a sanctu- 
ary's influence and power, comes invested with pecu- 

(1) 89 



liar solemnity and responsibility. What character 
has he given that influence? What depth? What 
direction ? Has he elevated and sanctified it, by 
lifting up all hearts, and his own, nearer and nearer 
God ? Has he possessed it with Christ, by possessing 
himself with Christ, and his preaching with Christ, 
and his work with Christ, and his people with 
Christ? These are questions that cannot fail to sug- 
gest themselves to those here to-night, who have 
been called to Christian ambassadorship in connec- 
tion with this church. They press upon me, as I 
think that five years of my life and labor were 
passed as the shepherd of this flock of God. 

I know the waters issuing now and henceforth 
from this sanctuary, are changed by those five years 
of ministry. They can never be the same again. Are 
they as pure as they were ? Are they as healing as 
they were ? Is there as much of life-giving power 
in them ? I know the influence going out from this 
church, now and henceforth, and passing as they 
will, with ever widening sweep, on and on, as long 
as time endures, are influences into which five years 
of my life have gone. They are not, and they will 
never be, what they would have been if I had not 
preached to you, and prayed for you, and been witli 
you at your bridals and burials, at your work and 
worship, at your fasts and feasts. In amongst these 
influences were mingled, and are mingled to-clay, 
and will be forever, my prayers and tears. What 

v 



hue they gave to the waters ; what hearts they 
touched for healing ; what baptism they brought to 
parched spirits ; what waste, arid soils grew beauti- 
ful for their coming, who knows but God ? Some- 
thing of my very soul was dropped in here, and 
inbreathed, inwrought, interblended with something 
of your souls. I could not touch you so, as in these 
years I touched you, without changing you, and 
changing your influence, and changing your touch of 
others, and your moulding power over them. "Mor- 
tals, with immortality in us, we do hang on one 
another in this fearful way." And the trust we 
were to each other in those five years, conditioned 
the influence of this sanctuary in forever altered 
elements of character and power. 0, was what of 
my soul, my life, my work, I left here, baptized of 
God? Gone from me now, forever, flowing on, 
blending with the waters of this sanctuary, and 
modifying them, when they break at last on eter- 
nity's shore, shall I be willing to hear what the 
waters have to say? As they tell of deserts that 
blossomed into beauty as they passed, of solitary 
places that grew glad for them, of souls they visited 
who felt their healing power and lived, of trees of 
righteousness that sprang up along their banks, will 
the story be to my condemnation or my joy? Shall 
it be seen there, that other deserts might have blos- 
somed, and other souls been healed, and that the 
waters might have gone on other and holier errands 

91 



of blessing, if other than I had been here those five 
years ? Or shall it appear that some of the deserts 
had sweeter blossoms, and some healed souls were 
more alive for God, and some trees grew with greener 
foliage and more golden fruit, because of my minis- 
try in the sanctuary whence the waters issued? 

These questions, and these thoughts, fill me with 
a sense of profoundest responsibility. They gather 
about the sanctuary most precious, yet most awful 
trusts. They must come with unwonted weight of 
solemnity to him, the best years of whose useful life 
were spent here in loving and holy ministry, and 
who, more than any other, under God, has contribu- 
ted to the influence going out from this Church of 
Christ. But these sacred trusts are not God's minis- 
ter's alone. They are committed to us all. Each 
one of you, in his place, and in his measure, shares 
in the responsibility of deciding as to the purity, and 
fruitfulness, and healing power of the waters issuing 
from this sanctuary. By so much as God is in the 
temple, and by so much as God is in the truth, and 
by so much as God is in the life, will these waters 
be living waters, and go out on their healing, and 
fruitful, and life-giving mission, to the ends of the 
earth. And it remains only for the least and the 
lowliest of you, with a closet, and a believing heart, 
and a promise, to decide how much of God you will 
have in the life lie re lived, and the truth here 

92 



preached, and the temple this morning so solemnly 
dedicated. 

To the most of yon, and to myself, this house is 
already hallowed by precious associations. I remem- 
ber when we laid its corner-stone, and invoked the 
benediction of God upon the work of our hands. 
Some who stood with us then, enter not these gates 
with us to-day. They have gone through other 
gates, into a better temple for a purer worship. I 
remember, also, the clay we first hymned our praises 
in the adjoining chapel. What a beautiful day of 
God it was. We came from an upper room that had 
seemed to us like an outer court of heaven. We 
scarce had crossed the threshold of our new Bethel, 
ere God made it the place of the soles of his feet. 
Day by day, thereafter, we builded temple walls 
whose polished stones were human souls. It was 
precious building work, for the Divine Artificer 
helped us in the fashioning, and the immortal temple 
went up with living masonry. Meanwhile this outer 
and material structure reached completion, and to- 
day we have dedicated it to the living Jehovah. 

Henceforth let it be reverenced, Christians. Pay 
earnest heed to the sanctities of the place. Come 
not hither with sandaled feet. For out of the heav- 
ens I hear a voice saying, "Now have I chosen and 
sanctified this house, that my name, and mine eyes, 
and my heart, may be there forever.' 7 

93 



Thus chosen and sanctified — house and home of 
(rod — may it be increasingly hallowed as the years 
go on ; may he, whose sacred trust it is to minister 
at these altars, belie vingly, and lovingly, and holily 
do his work, and come to this pulpit, Sabbath by 
Sabbath, baptized of God. May you who worship 
here be led by him into ever new, and deeper, and 
more precious experiences of the life of God, in 
Christ Jesus. So shall the waters issuing from this 
sanctuary flow on and on, with more and more of 
healing in them, because there shall be more and 
more of God at the fountain. Whithersoever they 
go, God's benediction shall go with them, healing 
the sick, cleansing the polluted, making barren 
wastes fruitful, giving life to the dead. 

And by and by, Christians, we shall hear the 
whole story of their watering, and know all the 
hearts and lives they beautified and blessed. We 
shall come to other waters ere long, and go through 
them — the waters of death — but they shall not over- 
whelm us. For God has said, " When thou passes! 
through these waters, I will be with thee." And we 
shall gather at another river. And the name of the 
river is, The River of the Water of Life. Through a 
city it is said to flow, but a city without a temple. 
The Lord God is the temple. And the waters of 
this river proceed out of his throne — the throne of 
God and of the Lamb. Do you wonder that it is 
said of them, they are "pure," and "clear as crys- 

94 



tal ? 77 and that the "tree of life" grows there on 
either side of them ? 0, shall we gather at last at 
that river ? Yes ; if we have given one cup of cold 
water, in the name of a disciple, to some soul athirst 
in our earthly life ; if we have contributed never so 
little to the healing waters issuing from this sanctu- 
ary, we shall drink forever of those waters of the 
River of God. 



95 



.ion r, 



*'^o il|e only ^[i^ c our ^>' u 'i 

lory and J|ajcsig, j]ominion and |)oucr, both note and feer " J[nw(« 



